One-apron drier



March 18, 1930. F. L. FURBUSH ONE-APRON DRI ER Filed July 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 18, 1930.

F. FUR BUSH ONEAPRON DRIER Filed July 1, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 jazz/4 I. Ezrbur/z Patented Mar. 18, 1930 v UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK L. FUBIB'USH, OF WES'IFORD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO 0. SARGENT S SONS CORPORATION, OF GBANITEVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, A. CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS V ONE-APRON' DRIER.

Application filed July 1., 192a. Serial No. 375,042.

This invention relates to a drier for fibrous lower partition 20. .Below the lower partior other material. tion is a damper 21 which is operated as will The principal objects of the invention are be described.

to provide for more effectively applying the The drier can be formed in as manycom-.

6 air currents to dry the material on the apron partments as may be desired, onlytwo being 55 by changing the speed of the air currents in v shown herein. The air is forced out of the a certain definite way throughout the course compartments by a series of fans or blowers of the air from one end of. the machine to the '22, 23, 24 and 25, which take the air out of other, and to provide for intermittently the compartments and circulate it back allowing the air to pass from one compart-" through the steam coils over the active strand ment to another so as to control the passage ,of the apron and down into the fans again of the air through the material to be dried, as indicated in Fig. 3. Sonic of the .air is and thus effectively controlling the drying discharged up through an outlet 26 located operation and economizing in the use of heat. near the intake end of the drier. The power Other objects and advantages of the invenis shown as transmitted by 'countershafting F tion will appear hereinafter. above and over pulleys 27. In order to car Reference is to be had to the accompanying out this invention, the pulleys 28, 29, 30 and drawings in which 31 on the fan shafts are of diflferent sizes, Fig. 1 is a side view of a drier constructed progressing from a small size at the intake in accordance with this invention; end to a large size at the outlet end of the Fig. 2 is a plan of the same, with the top drier. In this way the first fan 22 is operremoved; v ated at a com aratively high speed and each Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of of the other ans, through the drier, is oper- 1, and 'ated, progressively at a lower speed so'that ig. 4 is an enlarged view, showing the the last fan is operated at the lowest speed of 75 control of the dampers. v all. In this way the air where the stock is the I have shown the invention as applied to wettest will be circulated at the highest speed a one-piece drier in which the material is and at the outlet end where the air coming fed on the top ofa continuous apron 10 at through the material on the apron is almost the entrance end over a .drum '11 which dried the speed of the circulating air is slowcarries the apron at that end. This drum is est. This provides for circulating the air in located mainly outside the casing which enaccordance with the moisture therein, the air closes the drier. The other end of the apron with the. most moisture being circulated is carried by a drum 12. The material is fed with the greatest speed to provide for more to the apron over the top of the drum 11 by rapid operation at those parts of the maaprons 14. and 15 in a well known way. chine in which there is the most moisture and Along one side of the apron is a longitherefore the -most need of circulating it tudinal stationary partition 16 extending rapidly. Not so much is wasted in driving throughout the len h of'the drier and behind the fans at the dry end. this are steam coi s 17 for heating the air. The compartments can be considered as The apron 10 is driven in any usual way and normally substantially closed, so that the cirthe drier is divided up into compartments by culationin each compartment is independent v transverse partitions 18 having flexible flaps of that inthe others. This, of course,'would 19 at the bottom which are pivoted or loose not result in effective operation if this conso that the material on the apron will hold dition were maintained. .For'. the purpose them in the position indicated in Fig. 1, of letting the air through from one com enough so that, the material will pass under partment to the other, the damper 21 is emthem' and yet they will not allow much air ployed at the bottom of the partition '1.8'20. to pass through. They are located in the, This damper is operated periodically, as m space between the upper partition 18 and a shown in Fig.4,by projectlons 33 on a wheel v 32 on the shaft of the drum 12. Two or more -to take out the first moisture from t times during each rotation of the drum these projections will operate a rod 34 and push, it

against an operating handle 35 connected with the damper 21. The parts 21 and 35 are rigid with respect to each other and are pivoted on studs and also provided with a weight 36, or equivalent device, for holding the damper closed normally and forcing the rod 34 back after it has been pushed forward. It will be seen therefore that this damper 21 is opened and closed periodically for the urpose of allowing a current of air to pass om one chamber to another and thenclosingit so that the air cannot operate in that manner except for a short period of time.

In this way the air is circulated through the material to be dried by the fans in each compartment a short time before part of it is allowed to escape into the next compartment toward the end of the machine from which the wettest air is finally discharged. This control of the passage of the air from one compartment to another cooperates with the difference in the speeds of the fans to secure efi'ective drying in each compartment by the ,air therein before it is allowed to be discharged into the next one. The whole result is economy in the operation of the machine and in the consumption of power for driving the air. At the same time. where it is necessary to drive the air rapidly, this is accomplished by'the highest speed of the fans in the last compartment. These .fans have to drive out the air which has been used in the rest of the machine and which is employed of construction herein shown and described,

but what I do claim is v 1. In a drier, the combination with an apron for conveying the material to be dried, o

a series of fans located between the strands of the apron, and means for driving the fans at the feed or wet end of the apron faster than the fans at the discharge or dry end of the conveyor. t

2. In a drier, the combination with a case wet 3. In a drier, the combination with a casing divided bystationary partitions into compartments, and a continuous apron ex tending through all of said compartments from one end of the casing to the other, of a damper at the bottom of each of said partitions, means for driving said fans at higher speeds at the discharge end of the apron than at the intake end, and means for pcriodically opening said damper to allow the air to pass from one chamber to another.

4. In a drier, the combination with an apron for conveying the material from one end of the drier to the other and means for driving the dry air from the delivery end back to the wet end and exhausting a portion of the same at the wet end, and means whereby the air will move'faster as it approaches the wet end.

5. In a drier, the combination with an apron for conveyingthe material from one end of the drier to the other and means whereby the air will move faster as it approaches the wet end, said drier being di vided into compartments, of a damper at the bottom 'of each compartment below the apron, and means operated in synchronism with the apron for periodically opening and closing said damper to connect the compartments intermittently and allow the air to flow from the wet end of the machine toward the dry end under said partitions.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

FRANK L. FURBUSH.

ing and an apron therein for carrying the material to be dried from one end of the casing tothe other, of means at the side of the a ion for heating the air, a series of fans or blowing the air out from the apron into the heating zone, and means for driving all the fans at different speeds, varying progress1ve1y from a slow speed at the discharge end of the apron to a high speed at the intake end of the apron. 

